1) Warren Central (7-0) - 12/13 71-43 W #4 Franklin-Simpson, 12/16 63-57 W DeSales (at Fairdale), 12/18 73-55 W DuPont Manual (at Fairdale)    
Previous Rank: 1    
This Week: 12/19 vs. North Oldham (at Fairdale)    
    
2) Bowling Green (7-0) - 12/13 57-50 OT W Christian County, 12/16 69-41 W at #13 Greenwood    
Previous Rank: 2    
This Week: 12/19 vs. University Heights (at Madisonville)    
    
3) South Warren (7-1) - 12/13 73-58 W #9 Monroe County, 12/17 42-39 W at Hancock County    
Previous Rank: 3    
This Week: 12/21 vs. Crittenden County (at Logan County), 12/22 vs. Clarksville Christian (TN) (at Logan County)    
    
4) Franklin-Simpson (4-2) - 12/13 43-71 L at #1 Warren Central, 12/17 71-56 W #6 Warren East    
Previous Rank: 4    
This Week: 12/19 vs. TBA (at Beech)    
    
5) Barren County (4-3) - 12/13 51-53 L at Caverna, 12/16 58-43 W at #16 Allen County-Scottsville    
Previous Rank: 5    
This Week: 12/20 vs. McMinn County (TN) (at Gatlinburg)    
    
6) Monroe County (6-3) - 12/13 58-73 L at #3 South Warren, 12/16 75-59 W at #7 Metcalfe County, 12/17 50-35 W at Red Boiling Springs (TN)    
Previous Rank: 9    
This Week: 12/21 at Adair County    
    
7) Warren East (4-3) - 12/13 64-61 OT W #8 Todd County Central, 12/16 57-68 OT L at #15 Glasgow, 12/17 56-71 L Franklin-Simpson    
Previous Rank: 6    
This Week: 12/20 vs. Grayson County (at Ohio County), 12/21 vs. Breckinridge County (at Ohio County), 12/22 at Ohio County    
    
8. Todd County Central (5-5) - 12/12 60-29 W at Montgomery Central (TN), 12/13 61-64 OT L at #6 Warren East, 12/16 45-47 L at Edmonson County, 12/17 75-60 W Trigg County    
Previous Rank: 8    
This Week: 12/19 vs. South Fulton (TN) (at Trigg County)    
    
9) Metcalfe County (3-4) - 12/13 54-63 L at #14 Russell County, 12/16 59-76 L #9 Monroe County    
Previous Rank: 7    
This Week: 12/21 vs. Meade County (at Edmonson County), 12/22 vs. Daviess County (at Edmonson County), 12/23 at Edmonson County    
    
10) Clinton County (3-3) - 12/13 56-53 OT W at #11 Cumberland County, 12/16 60-55 W #14 Russell County    
Previous Rank: 10    
This Week: 12/19 vs. Rockcastle County, 12/20 vs. Monterey (TN), 12/20 vs. Morgan County, 12/21 vs. #14 Glasgow    
    
11) Russellville (2-4) - 12/13 75-71 OT W at Hart County, 12/16 64-74 L at Hopkins County Central    
Previous Rank: 12    
This Week: 12/19 vs. Whites Creek (TN) (at White House), 12/20 at White House (TN), 12/21 vs. White House-Heritage (TN) (at White House)    
    
12) Russell County (4-2) - 12/13 63-54 W #7 Metcalfe County, 12/16 55-60 L at #10 Clinton County, 12/17 90-89 W Butler County    
Previous Rank: 14    
This Week: None    
    
13) Greenwood (1-7) - 12/13 58-75 L Ohio County, 12/16 41-69 L #2 Bowling Green    
Previous Rank: 13    
This Week: 12/20 at Mason County    
    
14) Glasgow (1-4) - 12/15 74-76 L at Adair County, 12/16 68-57 OT W #6 Warren East    
Previous Rank: 15    
This Week: 12/19 vs. Rockcastle County (at Clinton County), 12/20 vs. Morgan County (at Clinton County), 12/21 at #10 Clinton County    
    
15) Logan County (2-5) - 12/13 46-53 L at Portland (TN), 12/16 65-53 W #11 Cumberland County    
Previous Rank: 17    
This Week: 12/20 vs. Calhoun Academy (SC), 12/21 vs. Clarksville Christian (TN), 12/21 vs. Montgomery Central (TN)    
    
16) Cumberland County (0-7) - 12/13 53-56 OT L #10 Clinton County, 12/16 53-65 L at #17 Logan County    
Previous Rank: 11    
This Week: 12/20 at Berea    
    
17) Allen County-Scottsville (0-5) - 12/16 43-58 L #5 Barren County    
Previous Rank: 16    
This Week: 12/20 vs. TBA (at Gatlinburg)    
    
18) Foundation Christian Academy (3-5) - 12/13 48-76 L Christian Educational Consortium, 12/16 34-53 L at Heritage Christian    
Previous Rank: 18    
This Week: None    

Notes:

-That GIF is the exact opposite of these rankings this week after #5.  There are several results that have happened that simply don't make sense.  And sorting through ones that don't make sense enough to sort of push them to the side and not overreacting to them vs. ones that seem bona fide is a real challenge!

-Let's start with the ones that do make sense.  Warren Central is making their run at #1 not just in the 4th Region, but in the state.  After thrashing Franklin-Simpson in a warmup for the King of the Bluegrass, they dropped DeSales to pick up their second win over a BGP Top 20 program before advancing to the semifinals of the tournament with a win over Manual, where they used a 23-2 run to turn an 8 point deficit into a 13 point lead, eventually leading by as many as 20 as they cruised to the victory.  With George Rogers Clark losing, that puts the Dragons into position to advance to the top spot.  At least for now.

-Meanwhile Bowling Green continues to track upwards in the BGP ranks as well, and remain unbeaten heading into their holiday tournaments.  They survived an overtime scare against Christian County in a game that they were missing several key contributors, including leading scorer MJ Wardlow.  But they finished the week with a huge 69-41 win over rival Greenwood, earning the first District 14 win of the season.  Bowling Green had lost two of three on the road at Greenwood, but have won 34 of their last 37 overall against Greenwood.  The Big 3 for Bowling Green were on display during the game - MJ Wardlow had 20 points, Mason Ritter 14, and Deuce Bailey had 12.  That January 13th matchup between them and Warren Central just keeps getting more circles around it by the day....

-The Carlos Quarles era has gotten off to a strong start at South Warren, as the Spartans moved to 7-1, their best record through 8 games in the team's history.  Brandon Rowe has carried a huge weight for the team, averaging 16.4 PPG as their only double digit average scorer so far this year.  It's a great start for a team that has struggled to build momentum over the years.

-The 15th District era has NOT gotten off to a good start for Warren East, who have proven the hardest team to figure in this poll.  The Raiders have posted solid wins over Metcalfe County and Todd County Central, the latter in extra time this week.  Isaiah Andrews is averaging 29.3 PPG.  But they were nearly run out of their own gym in their 15th District opener against Barren County, recovering in time to make the game somewhat in doubt before settling in for a 9 point loss.  But then came this week - losing by 11 in overtime to a Glasgow team that was winless coming in, followed by a 15 point loss to Franklin-Simpson in the 2A sectional final.  The Glasgow loss is devastating - it likely means there is no realistic path for Warren East to grab the #1 seed in the district, as it is highly, highly doubtful that Glasgow manages to beat Barren County.  It is potentially worse if Glasgow manages to do that as it would put Warren East at risk of being matched with Barren County in the district semifinals in their bid to make their first region tournament since 1997.  Likely, at best, they'll be matched against this same Glasgow team they just fell to.  Isaiah Andrews had 32 of his team's 57 points in the loss, which seems to highlight the problem.  Andrews is scoring plenty - is anyone going to step up to give the Raiders a second consistent scorer? It seems silly to talk about the district tournament when we're just three weeks into the year, but the Raiders' pursuit of the region tournament is one of the season's biggest storylines, and that's not playing out as expected so far.

-Speaking of Franklin-Simpson, they had the welcome return of Jalen Briscoe to the lineup after being sidelined with an injury for a couple of games.  He posted 13 points in his return to supplement DeMarcus Hogan's 30 points in Franklin-Simpson's 71-56 win over Warren East.  This advanced Franklin-Simpson to the 2A Classic tournament on January 13th.  Their opponent has not yet been determined - but the favorite from their scheduled matchup - Section 5 - is Lexington Catholic.

-The 16th District is so much more wild than I anticipated.  As previously mentioned, Monroe County has rejoined, giving the district five teams for the first time since Monroe County was consolidated from Tompkinsville and Gamaliel in 1985.  The Falcons have made the most of the KHSAA granting their request to move, jumping out in front of the district with a 3-0 start, with two of those coming on the road. They have yet to meet Russell County, which will come on January 3rd.  The 1 seed is guaranteed nothing, but the Falcons have put themselves in good position.  Cumberland County is in the basement at 0-3, with two of those losses coming at home.  It will be an uphill climb for them to escape the 4/5 game, a decided disadvantage.  The rest of the teams are "tied".  Russell County is 1-1 after surprising Metcalfe County before dropping a road game at Clinton County.  Both Clinton County and Metcalfe County are 2-2, placing three teams at .500 in district play, with each of the three teams having lost to one of the others in the grouping.  Metcalfe County may have the slight edge, as they have already played both of the other two teams on the road, gaining a crucial win over Clinton County at the home of the Bulldogs, but it is conceivable that any of the three could end up in that 4/5 game and each has a tough road to try to catch Monroe County and climb into the top spot.  The region's only true five team district (the 14th "kinda" has it with FCA) is going to be the one to watch all season long. But you can imagine how all of that makes it difficult to place them in the ranks - for now it goes Metcalfe - Clinton - Russell.

-One off the radar shoutout - Logan County picked up their first region win over a team other than Foundation Christian Academy since January 22nd, 2021, a 29 game stretch.  In fact, they hadn't beaten any team other than FCA since knocking off Edmonson County on February 25, 2021, a 38 game stretch.  The breakthrough came in a 65-53 win over a game Cumberland County team that has been very close to several of their 16th District brethren.  It's been a very difficult road for the Cougars, but this was a win very much worth celebrating. 

-This will start a couple week break for the region review as holidays approach.  Hope everyone has a festive season and follows the results! We'll hit it strong in 2023!

Great Stuff!  Looking forward to watching those BG vs WC battles.  Hoping BG can hang in there; as this is Warren Central's year.  Good Luck to the Dragons as they look to win the King of the Bluegrass!

Bump.